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Flour milling is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Brixton, a neighborhood in South London that is better known for jerk chicken and live music. Owned by the Lambeth Council, the Brixton Windmill has just reopened this month after a £580,000 (about $937,000) renovation. The effort was initiated by a local residents’ group, the Friends of Windmill Gardens, which was established in 2003 to restore the landmarked but derelict windmill and transform its surrounding park. The restoration and landscaping, which were overseen by Dannatt Johnson Architects, took seven months to complete, and the building now looks unpretentious yet elegant, with a tasteful color scheme.

Built in 1816, the windmill was originally known as the Ashby Mill, after its first millers. It was eventually overshadowed by housing developments when London spread south, and its sails were removed. The windmill was powered by steam, then gas, for a period until it finally closed in 1934. The structure was refurbished in the 1960s, but fell victim to vandals a decade later. Situated in Windmill Gardens, off Blenheim Gardens, it now stands proud with new sails and a restored electric provender mill that will be used in grinding demonstrations for the public and school groups.

The gardens beside the windmill are not what horticultural fans would expect from a public park; a bed of spring wheat and heirloom barley has been planted by the Friends of Windmill Gardens with seeds supplied by the Brockwell Bake, an association that promotes local wheat growing, harvesting, milling and baking. The Brockwell Bake’s secretary, Andy Forbes, supports the work of the Friends, but contends that the Lambeth Council has not gone far enough and faults it for not equipping the windmill to meet basic food production codes.

“Without this core functionality of producing legally edible flour, I fear for longer-term prospects of this potentially ‘working’ building-machine,” he said.

(The Brockwell Bake is also working with three farms near London to develop wheat that is free from chemicals. Forbes explained: ‘”We hope we will be able to legalize three traditional U.K. and regional wheat varieties for farm cultivation in the coming season — the first instance of pre-Green Revolution, pre-20th-century wheat, which is more suitable for organic growing than its modern counterparts.”)

The windmill project has guaranteed financing for five years to serves as an education resource for local schools future and to offer free visiting days to the general public. After that, the windmill’s future will depend on the will of the council and the influence of the community. Whatever happens, for now, it offers an alternative agricultural space that could serve as a catalyst for other projects.